Playing For Both Sides
by dragonswoe
Summary: Percy swears he doesn't know how it happened. It wasn't like the Titan was his first choice for someone to talk to, wasn't like he went out expecting to be attacked by monsters and then saved by said Titan. Honestly? He wasn't even aware he had a stalker until then. And he definitely wasn't aware of what would happen after their first actual meeting.


**So this is a little thing that I wrote like... years ago. Was going through all my stories - crappy and ones I plan to actually continue - and found this xD. Not really sure what's going on here, but... have fun. Since the Kronercy/Peronos ship seems to have sorta sailed now, you guys can enjoy this already established relationship story that's probably never gonna get updated again.**

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 **Chapter 1**

Percy stepped through the door and was instantly hit by the smells from his Mom's cooking. "Mom?" he called as he dropped his pack in the hall. "I'm back!"

"I'm in the kitchen," Sally called back. "I've just finished your cookies."

Percy grinned widely, hurriedly making his way to the kitchen before grabbing a blue cookie, still warm from the oven, and kissed his Mom on the cheek. "Hey, Mom."

Sally smiled as she hugged him. "How was camp?" she asked as she turned back to the washing up.

"Great," Percy said around a mouthful of blue cookie. "We got several new campers this year. A daughter of Apollo, a son of Hermes, daughter of Nike, daughter of Nemesis and a son of Ares. They're pretty good already. Some of them are staying year-round."

It had been two years since the end of the Giant War, three years since the Titan War. And one year since the end of the last war, which involved Apollo turning into a mortal, causing an automation to sneeze its head off, and many more incredibly weird stories.

Sally nodded slightly. "You're still teaching them swordsmanship?" she asked.

Percy grinned and nodded. "Yeah. And Annabeth still teaches Ancient Greek and history."

"Good. And how is Annabeth?"

Percy nodded. "She's good too," he rolled his eyes, his grin widening. "And she and Jake Mason finally stopped tip-toeing around each other and are going out."

Sally paused, turning to look at him. "How do you feel about that?"

Percy shrugged. "We tried it, but it didn't work out. I'm just happy that she's happy. We're fine being friends." He and Annabeth had tried going out for a month after the Titan War, but it didn't really work between them, so they agreed to just stay friends. "Besides, Jake can understand when she goes on about architecture," he said with a fond smile. He grabbed the plate of cookies. "Hey, I'm gonna go and put my stuff in my room. I'll come down when I'm done."

Sally nodded. "Remember to put your clothes away and not on the floor."

Percy rolled his eyes. "Yeah, of course. That was one time."

Sally smiled and turned back to the washing as he left the kitchen, grabbing his pack from the hall and kicking his shoes off before bounding up the stairs.

His room was just as he remembered it, causing his to smile faintly as he collapsed onto the bed. _Home sweet home,_ he thought. After several minutes of staring up at the ceiling, Percy started unpacking. He'd dumped everything onto his bed and was halfway through sorting it when he saw the note on his nightstand.

His breath caught on his throat and he spun to face the open window before he – once again – grinned. The note was slightly crumpled, but the writing was easily legible.

 _Am I correct that today is your last day at Camp?_

 _Firstly: Maybe you should suggest to your Mother that leaving windows open in the house isn't always a good idea. You never know what could happen. Don't worry, I can still find other ways of getting in._

 _Secondly: Meet me at the maple tree in Central Park at six. You know which one I'm talking about._

Percy glanced at the clock in his room – _17:56._ His eyes widened and he grabbed his hoodie, scrambling for the stairs and taking them two at a time. He tugged his sneakers on before reaching for the door. "Mom! I'm going out to meet someone!" he called. "I'll be back later!"

"Don't be too long, Percy," Sally called back. "Paul finishes at seven."

Percy put the hoodie on after shutting the door behind him, sprinting down the streets to Central Park. He avoided the cars, tearing across the roads like a madman.

The maple tree – yes, he knew which one. The tree which had trapped Hyperion during the Battle of Manhattan. He'd be waiting there for Percy to join him. Percy glanced at his watch. _18:03._

 _Please still be there,_ he begged.

There were still some people in Central Park, but not as many as there would be in the day. Percy was grateful for that much – if _he_ was in New York, then the fewest people that saw him the better. Percy didn't want the gods to get involved.

There was no one at the maple tree. Percy's shoulders slumped and he sighed, but an arm suddenly grabbed his shoulder and he was pulled up into the tree. Percy struggled to get out of the vice-like grip, opening his mouth to shut for help, but a hand clamped down over his mouth.

"You should pay more attention to your surroundings, little one," an amused voice murmured in his ear. "You might lose your head sometime soon."

Percy sighed, relaxing back against the warm body behind him as the hand was removed. "By the gods, you terrified me, you idiot."

His breath tickled Percy's ear. "You have enhanced senses, little one. Use them."

Percy huffed. "You're too bloody quiet to hear."

He hummed, his nose buried in the crook of Percy's neck. "How was that little Camp of Half-Breeds?"

"Half-Bloods," Percy corrected with a faint grin. "And it was fine."

"I'm going to get nothing more than 'fine'?"

"Nope," Percy said cheerfully. "Though I've missed you," he admitted. At some point, his arms had moved to encircle Percy's waist. Arms that could easily snap Percy's neck.

"You have, have you?"

Percy nodded. "Yeah. Seeing Annabeth all happy with Jake makes me miss you. Are you gonna tell me what you've been doing?"

The other chuckled deeply. "If you tell me," he offered.

Percy snorted. "Yeah, that's gonna happen. Camp's my business."

"As is what I'm doing."

"I'm safe at Camp. You're not safe wherever you're going," Percy insisted. "Please?"

"I can take care of myself," he said, slight annoyance in his tone.

Percy turned, curling up slightly against him. "I didn't say that. But monsters can't get me at Camp. You, however, have a lot of enemies. The gods wouldn't hesitate to kill you if they found you. Especially so if they found you here."

"I'd just use you as a shield."

"Thanks," Percy grumbled. "Glad to know I'm of some use to you."

He chuckled, the sound vibrating through to Percy's body. "You're worth a lot more than that, Jackson."

"Uh huh," Percy said sceptically. "Prove it."

"How many times have I saved your little mortal life?"

Percy thought back to the first time they'd really met – face to actual face. He'd been walking home from school when a group of monsters had attacked, catching Percy off-guard somehow because he was distracted by something. He'd been backed into an alley and was bleeding out when the monsters just imploded, splattering Percy with golden dust.

Percy had fallen against the wall, looking at his saviour with blurred vision and had promptly frozen. He hadn't been able to see a lot of his features, but he'd sure recognised those eyes.

"Can you walk, Jackson?" he'd called. Percy had stared at him until he'd sworn on the Styx that Percy wasn't going to be hurt by him, and Percy had reluctantly shook his head. He'd been given ambrosia and helped to within a few blocks of his house before his 'saviour' had disappeared into the crowd.

The next few weeks, Percy had seen him watching him sometimes out of the corner of his eye, sometimes standing on top of buildings and scanning the crowd, and he'd been protected. He knew that.

Eventually, Percy had confronted him and demanded to know why he'd been keeping him safe, and why he was following him. The response had been a vague; "You intrigue me. And I couldn't allow the Hero of the Gods to die, could I?"

This had all happened the year after the Titan War. Looking back on it, Percy still didn't know why he didn't tell any of the gods about what was happening.

Percy smiled, bringing himself back to the present. While he'd been thinking, the other had taken to nibbling Percy's jaw. "Too many times to count," he admitted.

"Exactly," he said, pausing briefly in entertaining himself before attacking Percy's jawline again. "Now, tell me why I'd have done that if you weren't worth something to me?"

"Yeah, but what _am_ I worth?" Percy asked, turning to look into those familiar eyes – eyes which he'd been regularly seeing for three years.

"Too much," was the response, not one that was helpful in Percy's opinion.

"That's not an answer," Percy pointed out.

"Well, it's all you're going to get."

Percy frowned and glared up at him. "You're so irritating."

Golden eyes gleamed in the approaching darkness. "Good," the Titan said.

Percy shook his head slightly. "Yup. Annoying," he turned to look at the sun. "I've got to go," he said. "It's getting late." He extracted himself from the Titan's arms, jumping down to the ground. Percy turned to leave, before he hesitated and looked back to Kronos, who was still sitting in the tree. "Do you… uh… want to join me?" he asked hopefully.

Kronos tilted his head to the side. "Your window?" he mused.

"Still open," Percy admitted. "So if you want to join me… you're welcome to. I mean, we haven't seen each other for months…" he trailed off, and a wry smile formed on Kronos' face.

"Get going, Jackson," Kronos said.

Percy nodded. "If you don't come… goodnight," he waved before turning and starting back up the path to go home.


End file.
